New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-03-04
IMPROBABLE ALASKA.
,oyby THE SEAL FISHERIES OF ACCOUNT
rrs CLIMATE AID REsoURCEs-A IAhA VIII"
HENRY W. ELLIOT

HENRY ". ELLIOT.
w.sy,xoroy. Feb. 2S.--Mr. Henry w. Elliot,
A. ,hor of the latest and, think, the best book on
Alaska ,abshod in this country since our parcnase Oh
Mat great penn from Russia is an artist VINO nss
b.sn employed by the Smithsonian Institution ior ,ho
last twenty years, except during the uine 'na' no
ronesptei the Treasury Department sp cial agent
an the Seal Island. and in other parts OF Alaska ne
IA not disposed to conscer that region very valuable
.oou.,iou. at is curious tact" he said the other
ay that the United States has yet to derive TIE
dollar Of benefit of the long list OF
Of income enumerated by Mr. sumner whi.e sn0
valuable resource of Alaska the fur sea- ~
mt meute ned by him. nor by any one IN tno uop
either House OF Congress. In fact, nothihs ""' ~
Of il IN this country at the time. .,onaelvcs9.
= Didn't the Russians know aDout IL tne"se,0'
Oh YES the scals discovered IN lIoo, o.. ,he
cha shcries began soon after In small way, o'S to
Russians never managed 'ne Ther Glazed little value
,s sSo% apd think concealed their existence"
reminded Mr. Elliot that United States omclas s, IN
Aasta generally brought back very glowing accounts
Of the climate and resources OF the country. ...;-
sJknov H., he said ; " but when they lose theiI
Government positions did You ever near Ina one
bak there to settle The names and titles OF the men
who have been in Alaska on oficiai business our,ns
The ,sst twenty years would fill column oil news
paper aud majority OF them have IN but Tiers
arc none OF them there to-day. They can't even stay
there while they in office; they can get no news
from Washington and are always In mortal lear les.
sornehody n intriguing against them SO YOU see IN
The nc, cunts of their coming here to ill.,
forest somebody In developing the country. Gov
ernor Swneiord Is here now and his progress mas
been photographed to the newspapers from every Id
portan point his route since he left san
suppose that like the rest he Ia coming 10 devise
means develop the country, but 10 sighihcao'
tact that the Rev Sheldon Jackson who 10 mission-
pry In Alaska and who has been here TOR some tme,
doesn't think that Governor Swineord Is .no Prorea
man 70 be at the head OF the civil government OF
great country like Alaska, while governor Swno'Su
ksa just limited that the Rev. Sheldon Jackson mas
with the Rev. Sheldon Jackson in Washington UNDER
those circumstances Sitka is pot very cohor'ao'o
place for Governor 6winctord this winter J..
The mention OF Mr.. jackson suggeated an INQUIRY III
regard to the Of the missionaries IN AiasRa
1.-THE Greek Church seems exactly to meet the noeds
Of the innuits or Esqumaux SAID Mr. ciliot o ous
oomparatively little progress has been made toward
the conversion of the Indians. There mas oeen inns
sion church at Sitka ever since 1908, but the e1-
pcricnce OF the Russian missionaries was not very
different from that OF t,Ir own The Indians become
very pious, and eager to JOIN the cnurcn my
get enough tobacco and red cloth but when once tue
distribution has been made their zeal cools on ana ~
takes an equal amount OF tobacco and red cIotn 10
arouse their interest again the next year. tnlnk
that the net result OF eighty years OF missionary sIs
century and this through fault Of the
What mean to say Is that contact with degraded whe
men has little more than Offset the elevatng enccts
Of the teaching and example of the misslonaries.
Mr. Elliot said that Alaska has no agriculture ana
never can have any. Cereals will grow, ana grow,
but on account OF the oAtreme humidity Oh the
atmosphere. they never have ripened, and never VIII
potatoes rpen only one year out OF three to
produce grain and root crops
reminded Mr.. Elliot that fabulous stories had been
told of rich mines In Alaska .
we'll" he sad. one extremely valuable mine has
been found In Alaska after twenty years OIL pat'oht
searoh-the Treadwell mine, on the east shore OF
Dodglss Island. The lode consists OF broad mass
Of Iow-grade gold carbonate inoosed by weiideined
walls 100 teet apart l2ostamp ml mas s,, ered
A. IA and fhr mir il NAY
w. With this exception there Is no other mining
industry worthy OF tho name; but there are 500 or
The difficulty of prospecting for the precious metals
in Alaska, and especially Ii the Sitkan archipelago
whore the best indications are, ga thousand times
greater than over the coast divide OF the Rocky Noun
tain region. In Alaska everything from the Water
edge to the line covered by the densest OF
forests and most tangled jungle and undergrowth;
avalanche are scanned that the prospector has a
cornparatyely clear view. The rocks and moorlands
above timber-lne are covered by the thcksst OF all
tn ok carpets OF sphagnous heather and above that
again, to the line, the rocks are concealed by
sluxnriant growth OF lohens Coal is there IN album
dance at halt a dozen points, but 1t consists OF poor
lgnies tertiary coal that Is valueiess Tor seaming
purpSsss"" ..,a von sssm to bsv. d.oo.ed of about
every resource OF Alaska except the fisheries What
have you tO say OF themP
sYes it Is true that the rivers swarm with tie finest
salmon aud the cod banks very extensive and inca
hsustible, but our people nave never been able to
utilize them except in ANAL way. The ntsrkets OF
the world tor supplied by the canneres OF
the Columbia and Fraser Rivers. Not until. ia the
natural order OF things, We havoa great population
upon the Pacific coast will the fisheries and timber OF
Alaska become valuable
al myself am interested in salmon cannery on
Kodiak Island and know from bitter experience what
can be done. A few years ago there wa. danger OF
the Columbia River fisheries giving out and two other
men and conceived the idea that there would be
profit in putting up Alaska salmon and supplying in
mart the San Francisco market. We put in $1,000
capital and started operations. But the before
We sent our first Ash TO market adventures put
ND lot OF dog salmon, an inferior. oily variety. near
Sitka labelled it Alaska salmon aud sold it In San
Francisco Tho next year, when wo shipped very
fine article, everybody was Disguised with Alaska
salmon and we had great difficulty in selling II Then
Zoo the Fish Commission restOcked the Columbia
River and our business was ruined. We now barely
pay expenses"